Dubai’s Jebel Ali Free Zone turns 40: Jafza marks $30 billion in FDI, creates 1 million jobs

Dubai: DP World’s flagship free zone, Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza), one of the emirate’s biggest growth drivers, has marked its 40th anniversary with record-breaking trade volumes of $190 billion over the last 12 months. This marks a 15 per cent year-on-year increase and its highest-ever contribution to Dubai’s economy, DP World announced Tuesday.

Jafza was established in 1985 as the Middle East’s free zone with just 19 companies. Today, the free zone hosts more than 11,000 businesses. Moreover, its infrastructure connects businesses to over 3.5 billion consumers by sea, air and land.

In the past 20 years alone, Jafza has attracted more than $30 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) to Dubai and, alongside Jebel Ali Port, created over one million direct and indirect jobs, said DP World.

Jafza’s success has become a template for DP World’s global expansion. The concept is now in place across 11 economic zones in Europe, India, Africa and the Americas – with three more in development. These zones continue to drive investment, industrial growth and job creation, even amid geopolitical instability.

Today, Jafza attracts nearly 75 per cent of Dubai’s FDI in manufacturing, trade, and transport as a hub for companies across sectors, including electronics, automotive, pharmaceuticals, food, petrochemicals, and advanced manufacturing.

The Jafza model

The Jafza model integrates a major global port (Jebel Ali Port) with world-class logistics infrastructure and business-friendly policies within a purpose-built economic ecosystem.

Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and CEO of DP World, said, “Over the past four decades, it has proven to be an anchor of resilience and now serves as a blueprint for our approach to economic zone development. Whether replicating Jafza’s success or adapting it to local needs, we see every free zone as a platform for shared growth.”

According to DP World, the Jafza model has been instrumental in helping Dubai navigate through various periods of global and regional volatility over the past four decades, including conflicts, financial crises, and pandemics.

Abdulla Bin Damithan, CEO & Managing Director of DP World GCC, added, “Dubai’s population has grown from 500,000 to 3.6 million and its economy has diversified with less than 1 per cent of its GDP coming from oil, which is now driven by tourism, real estate, trade, aviation, and finance.”

According to Damithan, the Jebel Ali ecosystem has had a big role to play in that, “with modern infrastructure and business-friendly policies that have created a multimodal trade platform connecting over 3.5 billion consumers.”